USA is a community of leaders and learners who support and challenge one another through academic experiences, research and service that advance the Gulf Coast region and the world. South encourages creativity and discovery by linking experiential learning to real-world applications.
Read more

South is a place where students discover and strengthen their passions, find their career paths, and form connections that result in lifelong relationships. At South, we look at the world and see things that we have the power to change, affect and shape — together. So that’s exactly what we do, every single day.
Read more.

College is an exciting time for you and your student, and we want to help you navigate through making your decision and finding resources for your student. Our website offers connections to assist you with admissions and financial aid, directions and scheduling a visit, and housing and dining options.
Read more.

Throw up your J, and join us! Your National Alumni Association membership connects you with your fellow alumni, gives back to USA, and entitles you to great alumni benefits.
Read more.

A South education allows students to explore and develop interests that build the foundation of lifelong career paths. Our faculty are dedicated to helping students reach their maximum potential. And with more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, South provides plenty of avenues for discovery.
Read more.

USA researchers are problem-solvers and pioneers, and our faculty often collaborate across disciplines. The outcomes are high-quality scholarship, global partnerships, new information and opportunities, the transformation of traditional disciplines, and innovations that benefit society.
Read more.

South’s student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division I sports, demonstrating excellence on the field and in the classroom. The Jaguars are a charter member of the Sun Belt Conference, and our alumni have gone on to notable professional careers in baseball, basketball, golf and football.
Read more.

Abraham A. Mitchell Cancer Research Fund Award Winners Announced

The University of South Alabama has announced more than $300,000 in awards from the
Abraham A. Mitchell Cancer Research Fund, which was created to advance cancer-related
research across disciplines and departments.

The awards mark the first installment of grants from the fund, made possible by Mobile
philanthropist and longtime USA supporter Abraham “Abe” Mitchell.

Six projects were chosen by peer review. Individually, the projects seek to:

Improve endoscopic imaging and colonoscopy outcomes.

Evolve the study of biochemistry by creating the ability to view cellular function
in living

animals.

Develop a sunscreen that both protects the skin from harmful rays and heals damaged

cells.

Block the spread of melanoma to lymph nodes by restricting a certain protein in the
body.

Pursue the development of new antitumor drugs for breast cancer.

Determine whether psychosocial interventions, including meditation and yoga, have
an

effect on cancer and psychosocial functioning.

Each award is for one year; recipients may be considered for an additional year of
funding depending on a project’s progress.

The goal of the Abraham A. Mitchell Cancer Research Fund is to support growth of interdisciplinary
cancer-related or cancer-relevant research as part of USA’s effort to receive a comprehensive
cancer center designation by the National Cancer Institute in collaboration with the
UAB Cancer Center.

“Through the generosity of Mr. Abe Mitchell, we now have resources to support initial
experiments to help discover the root causes of cancer, and to develop better treatments
to cure this deadly disease,” said Dr. Ronald D. Franks, USA vice president of health
sciences and interim director of USA’s Mitchell Cancer Institute. “Many of these initial
experiments will lead to preliminary data which will allow the investigators to secure
federal grant dollars. These federal grant dollars will in turn support further research
into the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Mr. Mitchell is providing
the money to ‘jump start’ these discoveries.”

“The Abraham A. Mitchell Cancer Research Fund provides critically needed resources
to attract new investigators from a variety of disciplines into cancer-focused research
and simultaneously drives cross-disciplinary research efforts,” said Dr. Laurie Owen,
associate director of basic and translational sciences at USA’s Mitchell Cancer Institute.
“We anticipate that this seed funding will broaden the portfolio of externally funded
cancer-related grants across the USA campus and promote the development of multidisciplinary
teams to combat this disease and improve the quality of life for our patients and
their families.”

A native Mobilian, Abraham Mitchell has been a longtime supporter of the University.
The Mitchell Cancer Institute was named after the Mitchell family – Abe; his late
brother, Mayer; and Mayer’s wife, Arlene – and together the family has committed more
than $93 million to USA.

“Like so many others, I have had good friends and family die of cancer,” said Mitchell,
whose brother lost a battle to cancer in 2007. “I believe it’s important, then, to
support the work being done by the University of South Alabama to search for cures
and advance science. It is only through such research that we can improve the lives
of cancer patients and ultimately reduce the number of those affected.”

Summary: Colonoscopies are performed by guiding an endoscope through the lower digestive tract.
Using an endoscope, clinicians are able to view areas of possible cancerous growth
and resect biopsy specimens for analysis. Drs. Leavesley and Rich are seeking to improve
endoscopic imaging capabilities using an approach called hyperspectral imaging – filtering
light before it reaches the camera over a series of wavelengths. The result is a multi-dimensional
image that could allow physicians to better detect cancerous cells and improve the
ability to remove cancerous tissues. This is possible because each type of tissue
has a different spectral fingerprint, and cancerous tissues have different spectral
fingerprints than surrounding tissues. In addition to developing the imaging hardware,
USA researchers are creating software that renders the image data into a useful format
for clinicians and physicians to interpret in real time during an endoscopic procedure.

Summary: Historically, investigators have studied biochemistry in test tubes with either 100,000
or more cells or ground-up tissues. This has led to a tremendous understanding of
some of the basic mechanisms of cellular function and the roles of certain signaling
pathways in cell proliferation or cell death, which has helped in the development
of cancer-fighting drugs. USA researchers aim to further evolve the knowledge of cell
evolution by developing rat models that would allow scientists to study biochemistry
in single cells in intact, living tissues and animals. The goal is to develop rat
models that will express fluorescent indicators to visualize biochemical reactions
using state of the art imaging techniques. The end result would be the ability to
see alterations in signaling pathways that lead to cancer and monitor the effectiveness
of drugs designed to inhibit these pathways.

Summary: Ultraviolet B radiation is one of the strongest risk factors responsible for skin
cancer. Traditional sunscreen lotions seek to block or reduce the amount of radiation
the skin absorbs. USA chemical engineers and cancer biologists are developing a sunscreen
with an added component that could actually repair a damaged cell’s DNA. They are
testing their hypothesis that trace amounts of silver – synthesized using aloe vera
as a reducing agent – might have chemopreventative properties. If so, incorporating
these nano particles in a sunscreen could help heal damaged cells when harmful radiation
breaks through the lotion’s protective barrier.

Summary: Malignant melanoma, a skin cancer, typically metastasizes to the lymph nodes as a
primary lesion before secondary metastasis occurs. So, preventing the cancer from
reaching the lymph nodes would be an important step in localizing the cancer and keeping
it from breaking off and spreading to other parts of the body. Dr. Lim is testing
his hypothesis that high levels of a specific protein called VCAM-1 provides a homing
place for melanoma, and reducing VCAM-1 expression through a pharmacological FAK inhibitor
could keep melanoma from metastasizing to the lymph nodes.

Investigators: Dr. Andrzej Wierzbicki, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of
chemistry; Dr. David Forbes, chair and professor of chemistry; Dr. Richard Honkanen,
professor of biochemistry; Dr. Larry DeLucas, director of the Center for Biophysical
Sciences and Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Summary: The focus of the project led by Dr. Wierzbicki is to develop selective and potent
inhibitors of a protein that is observed in high levels in an invasive ductal carcinoma
form of breast cancer. To find new drug leads, more than 300,000 small molecules were
previously tested, and several compounds were found with promising inhibitory activity.
These lead-compounds will be used as a starting point for the design of antitumor
drugs.

Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for MCI Patients

Investigator: Dr. Elise Labbé-Coldsmith, professor of psychology

Summary: Mindfulness-based stress reduction, a behavioral medicine practice that includes
meditation, yoga and awareness of body and mind, is linked to reduced anxiety and
stress and improved quality of life. But what effect might it have on cancer? There
are few randomly controlled trials evaluating mindfulness-based stress reduction on
cancer patients. With an increased need to provide comprehensive patient care to improve
health outcomes, limit costs and increase patient satisfaction, Dr. Elise Labbé-Coldsmith
will conduct a pilot study that will explore the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based
stress reduction intervention in improving psychosocial and immune system functioning
in patients undergoing chemotherapy regimens.